About Me

“Between the worlds of men and make believe I
can be found.”
~Dan Fogelberg

Hello. I am Marsha J. West, creator of Enchanticals.

I created the word Enchanticals. Enchanticals describes my creations and the
imaginary place which I also created, where my creations first reside before
being listed at my Etsy shop, aptly named Enchanticals.

Enchanticals is where enchantment resides…along with fantasy, imagination,
whimsy, creativity, magic, mystery, and lore. Enchantment is always afoot at
Enchanticals because enchantment cannot be harnessed, has no rules, and is
everywhere.

I am a miniaturist, artist, writer, and poet. My poetry includes haikus. I am
completing a series of children’s books.

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Published and Featured:

Enchanticals has been featured and continues to be featured in many place
online, in magazines, blogs, Etsy team blogs and Treasuries, as well as many
other miniature and artistic spots. I have listed just these…

I am a miniaturist, artist, writer, and poet. I am/was gifted with both a sense
of wonder and curiosity, as well as a rich imagination that knows no bounds. My
late parents encouraged and instilled in my sister and me a desire to learn all
that we could from all sources available….the written, visual, spoke; to seek;
to question; to think broadly and out of the box; to learn other cultures,
customs, and make friends of every culture and creed; to create; be ourselves;
think for ourselves, and, most of all, to imagine. For from imagination with
action added to it for fuel, one can create boundlessly.

My
personality is a bit like yin and yang. I love nature, sunlight, sunny days,
animals, flowers, meadows, butterflies (my Sacred Power Animal), and colors. But,
my yin, so to speak, side, loves the night, the moon, grey overcast skies,
rain, barren trees, melancholy, cold winds blowing, emptiness, fog, and myste.
This yin yang personality of mine enhances what I create. When I am in a Yang
mode, I create fairy, elemental, and the like creations and when Yin, I love to
make spooky, dark, vampires, and the like.

As
an artist, I create in various mediums. However, my preference and specialty
are predominantly in 1:12th or miniature dollhouse scale…miniature items, but
especially furniture, altered and/or made by me. I furnish them completely with
one-of-a-kind, handmade, detailed, and realistic looking items made from nature
and found objects.

Each
creation is based upon a central theme or character and each altered found
object created for that piece supports the main theme.

My
themes and characters for my creations run the gamut…from enchanted to fantasy
to whimsy to fairytale to wizard to horror/spooky to realism. These themes do
not have a season or Holiday associated with them; I create them year round.
For example, spooky…spooky/haunted are not just for Halloween, but rather exist
in my enchanted world the entire year.

Speaking
of “spooky”…my spooky creations are scary, sometimes a bit ghoulish, and may
give you a bit of a chill. But, they are always infused with a dab and a dash
of whimsy. My spooky is devoid of evil, harm, cruelty, and hate to and for
others. Spooky is, to me, is fun fantasy.

I
make my creations one at a time… from start to finish. There is no assembly
line in my workshop. No elves either. For this reason, each piece is truly
one-of a-kind. I keep no written “recipes” for the colors I use nor written
instructions for the any of items I create. Each piece is from or includes
nature or is created out of found objects I have available at the time. Thus,
none of my finished pieces can be duplicated.

For
each individual creation, I specifically write an original story entitled, “A
Little Tale”. My little tales are fables, some with a moral, which either recounts
the personal life history of the previous “owner” of the piece of furniture or
the origin, history or mystery surrounding the miniature item I created. My
little tales are a way for me to bring my creations to life for the audience
and also to draw them into and become part of, not only the items created, but
also my enchanted little world.

My
goal with each of my creations are to make them enjoyable useable works of art;
to enchant, surprise, and delight the audience; to challenge the audience to
use their imagination to discover the unique and creative pieces made from
found objects; and to feel amazement and wonder at how the original purpose of
each found object has changed and become something else entirely.